Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Shooting Hoops in the Hallways of Learning

Sometimes teaching is like basketball. When you are hot... All net. You can't miss. Things are clicking. Everyone is learning. Everyone is behaving. You've got it together.

And sometimes. Air ball. Literally. The paper is flying at the trash can, at each other...at you. The kids are disruptive. Every time you turn your back -whoosh someone disappears from his seat. Not a good day.

The goal is to have more excellent days....to get more net than air. To score learning. The principals know who their star players are. The teachers who consistently get results. They also known their inconsistent players who really need more practice before hitting the court in a game.

All full time teachers are starters because every full time teacher is a student's only chance to learn that topic. This is why having the best team possible is essential. There is no such thing as a bench in a school. Everyone plays.

Except this is not play. This is serious. If someone continues to foul. If they commit too many personal fouls or disrespect the referee, eventually a good ref will eject that player or coach.

We can't afford to have teachers with poor personal skills in the classroom. We can't afford to have teachers who can't ring a basket on a good day teaching. Likewise, we can't afford to lose our best players. We need to keep the stars playing on our team. Experience counts. Energy counts. You can have all the moves in the world but if you only shoot air balls (your teaching doesn't produce results) perhaps you need to slow down and be more simple and just shoot lay ups.

If you are a basketball fan (like me) -the next time you watch a game, think about this and how seriously we must scrutinize our teaching team. If no one wants to play on your team and you are just looking for any warm body who will walk in your school then you have to look at those leading your school system and improve the learning environment.

Learning is serious. We need to do it well. Be excellent. Be great. Be world class. Play well and serve in the greatest (most unappreciated) profession.

Every Classroom Matters (Recent Shows)

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